Warning: Extensive discussion of needles and other tattoo paraphernalia;
Author's Note: Another (playful) warning for extreme fluff—give your dentist a call when you're finished reading! And remember how I said these were just interconnected short stories and not an actual linear story. Here's why—time jump! We're several months into the future (mentally, my timeline had the shop opening in the summer, so I've got this happening just after the New Year). Let me know your thoughts!
Also, I'm sorry if the next couple of chapters have some typos or seem a smidge different. I just had some minor surgery, and my pain meds are making me a bit loopy, but I'm dying to get these next few chapters out. Thank goodness for good beta friends who've already caught so much of my mess (huge shout out to Aya Diefair-check out her profile!). All that to say: please bear with me, and thank you SOOOOO much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. I love knowing other people are enjoying the things I write!
"How many of these boxes did they deliver?" Neville grunted, dropping the last one onto the appropriate stack.
"I have no idea, but I hope it's everything I ordered. Our inventory is running low, and we still need to send the needles to our enchanter and pick up the last batch from her. I never dreamed that six months into this little adventure we'd already be so successful." Ginny wiped the sweat from her brow. "Thank you again for spending your afternoon helping with this. Luna's got clients all day, and I never would have gotten all of this done by myself, especially since using too much magic on them can alter the properties of the inks."
Neville reached over and smoothed the top of her hair with a smile. "Not a problem, Gin. You know most of my business is mail order this time of year, so when I finish all that in the morning. I've got nothing else to do when I close Wallflowers at three."
"Son, sometimes I think you do more around this shop than the girls," a voice said.
They turned and saw Arthur Weasley standing in the doorway to the stockroom.
"Daddy!" Ginny cried, running over to fling her arms around him. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't a man come visit some of his favorite kids?" he replied with a twinkle in his eye.
"It's good to see you again, Arthur," Neville said, reaching out to shake his hand.
Arthur grabbed it and pulled him into a hug. "Good to see you too, son. We missed you at the last family dinner."
"Daddy, you know you can visit whenever you like, but I'm a little surprised that you apparently left the Ministry early to do it," Ginny pushed.
"Can you keep a secret from your mother?"
The two young people nodded and exchanged a wary glance.
"I want a tattoo," Arthur said proudly.
"That's wonderful!" Luna cried. "Sorry, I thought I heard a commotion back here and decided to come check it out. Lovely to see you, Arthur."
"You too, Luna Dear." He looked at his fellow daughter. "What do you think, Ginny?"
She just gaped at her father. "You're kidding, right?"
"Of course not!" he scoffed. "All the hip kids are doing it these days."
Neville managed to cover his snort with a cough, but Luna didn't bother to hide her tinkling laughter.
Ignoring them, Ginny raised an eyebrow at her father. "Have you told Mum about this? How do you think she's going to feel about it?"
"I mean, it's for the family. I'm sure she'll love it," he said, tugging at his collar. "Though I don't know exactly what I want just yet. I thought I'd get your opinions since you'll be a part of it."
Luna, having finished her fit of giggles, placed a gentle hand on his arm. "What did you have in mind, Arthur?"
"Molly and I have always been incredibly proud of our large family, and we love all the ways it keeps growing. I want to get something to show it off and keep you all close to me at the same time," he told her. "But I want to do it in a way that's special to us and can grow as our family does. Is that something you'd be interested in helping me do, Luna?"
The blonde grinned and kissed him on the cheek. "I'd be honored to be a part of this. Let's go get started on the planning."
Ginny moved to follow them, but she didn't feel Neville coming with her. She turned to him and waved him on.
"This is kind of a family thing, Gin. I don't want to intrude." Neville's eyes dropped to the floor, suddenly taking great interest in his soil-caked shoes.
She walked over and put her arm through his. "You've been supporting Luna and me ever since we opened the shop. You all but live here after you close for the day, so much so that we should probably be paying you, and we spend all of Sunday together in your shop. Mum gets upset if you miss family dinners—which reminds me, you're kind of in the doghouse for missing the last one—and my father calls you 'Son.' My brothers pick on you like you're one of them. You've got a Christmas stocking at the Burrow and, most importantly, got your very own Weasley sweater. What's it going to take for you to realize that you are family, Nev?"
His eyes looked a bit glassy by the time she'd finished her speech, but there was a small smile on his face. "Well, when you put it that way," he laughed thickly, leading her back to where Luna and Arthur sat in deep discussion.
"I agree that an actual family tree is the most obvious solution," Luna was saying, "but I'm afraid it's quite… self-limiting. The family is, as you said, absolutely enormous and still growing. We could put it on your back and try to make each branch rather small, but I'm still concerned that we'd run out of room rather quickly."
"I also wouldn't be able to show it off to anyone else if we put it on my back," Arthur mused. "So an actual tree is out of contention."
"What if you put everyone's faces in little orbs that floated around? You could quarantine them to his arms, and he would have pictures of all of us," Ginny suggested.
Luna made a face. "I'm good with faces, but I won't be able to change them as the kids age. In 20 years, Victoire will be grown and possibly have children of her own, but Arthur's tattoo would still show her as a five-year-old. But I really like the idea of having something float around his arm. That will give me plenty to work with, and we won't run out of room too quickly."
"Then what about just having everyone's names bounce around?" she replied.
"That could work…" Luna murmured. "But if that's all they are, then people are going to want to read them, and that much text moving around is going to be really difficult to read."
"And I'd really like something a little more unique," Arthur said quietly.
The four sat in silence for a few moments, racking their brains for a new idea.
"I've got it! How about little weasel paw prints with everyone's names and birthdays around them?" Luna chirped.
Arthur shook his head. "I'm not just sticking to the legal Weasleys with this. I don't want Harry or Hermione or Neville here to feel strange about their names being stuck in a weasel paw."
Neville looked at him in awe. "I wouldn't mind at all, Arthur. I'd be honored to have my name on a Weasley weasel paw."
"Well, I'd really rather not," Ginny muttered. "Besides, that's just dad's Patronus. And it's not like we can use everyone else's Patronus forms—even though most all of us can cast a corporeal one, we don't know what the kids' will be."
Neville nodded thoughtfully until his face adopted a curious expression. "This is going to seem really off topic but bear with me. Arthur, I meant to ask you this at Christmas dinner, but what's the story behind all the rubber duck ornaments on the tree in your, uh, 'workshop'?"
Arthur tossed his head back and laughed. "It's kind of an ongoing joke. One of the things I asked Harry when I met him for the first time was something along the lines of, 'What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?' The topic came up at a family dinner right after the war ended, and suddenly I started getting different rubber duck ornaments from all my Muggle-born and half-blood family members."
"That's amazing," Neville chuckled. "What if you turned that into a tattoo? You could have a little rubber duck with everyone's name on it floating around your arms. That would showcase your love of Muggle culture as well as the size and personality of your family, and Luna could just add new ducks when someone else joins the family. Plus you wouldn't have to have everything done at once." The former war hero winced at the thought of having that much tattooed on his body, let alone all at once.
"And I could add little details for each individual family member!" Luna cried. "Like an earring for Bill and knitting needles for Molly and green eyes and that frightening hair for Harry. Oooooh, this would be so much fun!"
"A legion of rubber ducks—I think it sounds like a great plan!" Arthur agreed.
Together, the four spent an hour working on the logistics of the enormous undertaking—the size, design, and particulars for each little duck, which ducks to do first, and who exactly to include.
When they were finished, Luna wiped her brow and glanced at the clock. "Arthur, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think we've got time to start this today."
He waved her off. "I wasn't really looking to start it just yet anyway. I was really thinking of putting it off until Molly leaves to visit the Delacours next month."
"Then let's head up front and book you for then. I just hope Mum doesn't kill you when she gets back from France," Ginny said with a smirk.
"That makes two of us," he muttered.
When he'd verified an appointment time, Arthur turned to his tattoo artist. "How much do I owe you for your time today, Luna?"
"Not a Knut," she replied.
"I can't agree to that," Arthur said. "You're a professional, and I'm availed myself of your expertise, even if we didn't start on the actual tattoo today."
Luna shook her head vehemently. "No sir, I can't take any money from you. You've opened your family to so many of us, and now you're letting me permanently memorialize it on your body. It's one of the most beautiful endeavors I've ever been asked to partake in, and I won't take any money for it. Your gold's no good here, Arthur." She threw her arms around him, and he immediately returned the gesture.
"My sweet daughter," he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
When they broke apart, he did the same to Ginny and then turned to a hesitant Neville. "Son, it takes a lot more than blood or marriage to make someone family. You'll always be family to us."
And with that, he pulled Neville into a strong, back slapping hug the young man gladly returned.
Willing the moisture from his eyes, he whispered, "Same here, Arthur, same here."
MC4A Challenge Block
Stacked with: Shipping War; Summer Bingo; StL; ER; FPC; BAON; ToS; Star; SF
Individual Challenges: Short Jog; The 3rd Rule (Y); Lovely Triangle; Gryffindor MC (x3); Ravenclaw MC; Red Moon Quindrabble; Witches Coven 2; Forehead Kisses; Real Family; Flags and Ribbons (Y); Inks (Y); Trio of Silver (Y); Letter of the Day; Times to Come (Y); Shipmas (Y); Themes and Things A—Family (Y); Themes and Things B—Joy (Y)
Representations: Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley; Arthur Weasley; Neville Longbottom
Bonus Challenges: Clio's Conclusion; Unicorn; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; White Dress; Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread); Chorus (Endless Wonder; Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Machismo—Emotional)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: Satisfaction (FR); Liberation (FR); Tether (T3); Poppy (LiCK)
Summer Bingo — Space Address (Prompt): 5A (Gold)
Shipping War — Ship (Team); List (Prompt) — Luna Lovegood x Ginny Weasley (Dreamy Redhead); Summer Micro 1 (Boxes)
Warnings: Extensive discussion of needles and other tattoo paraphernalia